Danica Patrick had no more idea what to make of the fans' reaction than she did about the handling of her race car on an Indianapolis 500 pole day that left her shaken.

After climbing from her car after a run that put her more than 3 mph off the pace, Patrick told the crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that the car was the problem, not its driver.

"I'm blown away," Patrick said later. "I don't know, maybe they all booed me before, but I'd like to think some of them cheered for me before.

"And I'm not a different driver than I was five years ago. I don't know if those people were here five years ago, but I got loose in Turn 1 and caught it and kept my foot in it. So I can drive a loose car. This is beyond (loose). Obviously."

Patrick became the most popular driver in American open-wheel racing almost as soon as she arrived in the IndyCar Series in 2005. She finished fourth that year in her Indy 500 debut and in 2008 became the first woman to win in the series.

But cheesecake photos in several magazines, suggestive television advertising, a 1-for-81 record and a highly publicized but unimpressive three-race NASCAR venture have turned off a great number of racing fans who consider her overhyped.

Patrick's effort of 224.217 mph left her 23rd on the grid for the May 30 race. In five previous 500s, she had never qualified outside the top 10.

It was a tough day overall for Andretti Autosport.

Tony Kanaan, the team's steady veteran leader and a consistent pole threat, crashed on his first qualifying lap and did not make another attempt. Marco Andretti qualified 16th with a run he considered "pathetic," Ryan Hunter-Reay needed two shots to put his car 17th in the lineup, and John Andretti did not qualify on the first day.

"The car is just skating across the track with no grip," Patrick said. "My car, my mechanics took tons of time to make sure it fit perfectly, was fast and slick, no drag. It's there. It's just that the setup's not there."

Where'd he come from?

A year ago, he was bumped from the field and drove his teammate's car. This time Tagliani is competing against the series' powerhouses with a low-budget, first-year team and a car bought during back-of-the-field Marty Roth's going-out-of-business sale.

"For us, just to have the opportunity to battle with Ganassi and Penske, it's quite an honor," said Tagliani, who held the top spot for more than five hours. He ultimately dropped to fifth when the top nine cars re-qualified.

"When I saw Helio (Castrnoeves, the pole-sitter), we knew we didn't have that kind of speed."

One factor that could explain both the struggles of Andretti Autosport and Tagliani's success is 500-winning engineer Allen McDonald, who moved from Andretti's team to Tagliani's

The little guys

Other surprises earning starting positions in the top nine were Graham Rahal (seventh), whose father, 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal, revived his team for this race; and the otherwise unemployed Ed Carpenter (eighth), part of the Indy-only joint effort of Vision Racing and Panther Racing.

Drivers to watch: Kanaan's biggest challenger for the top spot in the final round of qualifying Sunday - 25th on the grid - would appear to be veteran Paul Tracy.

"Somehow we lost our way today," said Tracy, who was among the top five in practice last week but 28th-fastest Saturday.